Leveraging Landscape Change: Instrument design for supporting the evolution of new natural resource industry niches

This paper outlines how resource degradation in Australia could be reversed with innovative investment approaches that compensate for the main impediments to beneficial landscape change. We argue that the existing suite of policy responses is incomplete and there are benefits to be had by introducing some new approaches for encouraging innovative and creative, appropriate landscape change. We discuss two examples that address the need for instruments that encourage the evolution of new natural resource industry niches: 1. the proposal advanced by the Allen Consulting Group in its recommendations to the Business Leaders Roundtable in 2001 on options for leveraging private investment entitled Repairing the Country 2. a pilot project that is being undertaken by Greening Australia and the CSIRO with funding provided under the Market Based Instruments Program of the National Action Plan on Salinty and Water Quality. The paper concludes with a comparison of existing instruments and their usefulness.Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q28, D7,

Improving the Mechanical Performance of 3D Printed Parts Using Fused Filament Fabrication

The 3D printing industry has seen rapid growth in the last 10 years and has been called the next industrial revolution. There are several different processes used in 3D printing, but the most popular process is called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) or Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). This is the process where (most commonly) plastic filament enters a nozzle, is heated to a semi-liquid state, and then deposited into a pattern to create a print. One major drawback to this process is that the prints are anisotropic. This means that the strength of the print varies with the orientation that it was created. This project experimented to determine if a proposed post processing method would decrease the anisotropy in the FFF process. The proposed process involved using a high intensity lamp to flash the print after each layer is printed. The theory was that this would decrease the gap between deposited filaments and from research this was a proven way to make prints stronger. For this project, a Xenon Sinteron 2000 was used as the high intensity lamp and a Printrbot Simple Metal Plus was used as the 3D printer. Three experiments were done to determine if the Sinteron would be successful in reducing the gap between deposited filaments. The first experiment was done by flashing the surface of completed prints and then using a portable microscope to measure the height of the surface layer and necking between deposited filaments. The data were analyzed using a two-way ANOVA and the results did not conclude that the Sinteron was successful in reducing the gap. The second experiment was analyzed visually using an optical microscope and revealed that Sinteron might be able to reduce the gap on prints that are solid. The third experiment was analyzed using an optical microscope and the area of the gaps were measured using ImageJ software. The results concluded that the Sinteron was not successful in reducing the gap. The quantitative data from these experiments suggest that the proposed processing method would not be successful in reducing the anisotropy of 3D printed parts created by the FFF process. The recommendation is to investigate post processing methods such as a heat gun that would apply heat evenly across a layer

Aptamers in Virology: Recent Advances and Challenges

Aptamers generated from randomized libraries of nucleic acids have found utility in a wide variety of fields and in the clinic. Aptamers can be used to target both intracellular and extracellular components, including small molecules, proteins, cells, and viruses. With recent technological developments in stringent selection and rapid isolation strategies, it is likely that aptamers will continue to make an impact as useful tools and reagents. Although many recently developed aptamers are intended for use as therapeutic and diagnostic agents, use of aptamers for basic research, including target validation, remains an active area with high potential to impact our understanding of molecular mechanisms and for drug discovery. In this brief review, we will discuss recent aptamer discoveries, their potential role in structural virology, as well as challenges and future prospects

Policy behavior of the Federal Reserve System: An alternative Taylor Rule

Taylor\u27s Rule was designed to be a suggestion to the Federal Reserve System as to where to set the federal funds rate. The dynamic equation used in this study is built off the original Taylor Rule and variations of the Taylor Rule created by other economists, such as Judd and Rudebusch (1998) and Fair (2001). However, this model uses monthly data rather than quarterly data, and uses slightly different measures of the economic indicators used as the explanatory variables in the equation. The main objective of this study is to test for structural changes in the Federal Reserve\u27s policy behavior across various Fed Chairmen since 1960 (Martin, Burns, Miller, Volcker, Greenspan, and Bernanke) using the CHOW test

Sigma Point Filters For Dynamic Nonlinear Regime Switching Models

In this paper we take three well known Sigma Point Filters, namely the Unscented Kalman Filter, the Divided Difference Filter, and the Cubature Kalman Filter, and extend them to allow for a very general class of dynamic nonlinear regime switching models. Using both a Monte Carlo study and real data, we investigate the properties of our proposed filters by using a regime switching DSGE model solved using nonlinear methods. We find that the proposed filters perform well. They are both fast and reasonably accurate, and as a result they will provide practitioners with a convenient alternative to Sequential Monte Carlo methods. We also investigate the concept of observability and its implications in the context of the nonlinear filters developed and propose some heuristics. Finally, we provide in the RISE toolbox, the codes implementing these three novel filters

Conserving Biodiversity - Institutions, Policies and Incentives

Biological diversity, a term that encapsulates all of life - the diversity of plants and animals and the places they live, has changed the way we think about nature conservation. The conservation of biodiversity demands that we understand the role of natural systems and ecological processes in sustaining landscapes. Landscapes and the issues embedded within them vary enormously from the protection of remote wilderness areas to maintaining the productivity of agricultural regions and the quality of life within cities. This report seeks to answer questions from an outsider's perspective about the roles central government, regional councils and the non-government sector should play in conserving biodiversity; how effective working partnerships with landholders should be developed; what the most appropriate policy mix is; and who should fund biodiversity conservation programmes. It draws on Australian and international experience in the management of biodiversity. In consultations with officials and stakeholders mixed views were expressed on whether holistic approaches to biodiversity conservation are required or whether a model of protection through dedicated public and private (covenanted) conservation reserves will be sufficient. The view taken in this report is that protection is necessary but not sufficient. Ultimately on- ground programmes are required that target and reward land managers who actively manage areas of indigenous biodiversity on their land. However, it is also necessary to understand the economic and social factors that are driving the land-uses and management practices that are causing the continuing loss of biodiversity. Successful approaches to biodiversity conservation require coordinated responses from all scales of management. The critical role of regional planning in balancing the need for scientific assessment, leadership and centralised planning from the "top down" with strategies for engaging landholders and local communities from the "bottom up" is highlighted. The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) provides a solid framework for developing effective regional responses. However the challenges of coordination across spheres of government, clarification of regulation and engaging the non-government sector remain. A number of policy options, such as funding and tax incentives and capacity building, are suggested to address these.